Saturday, September 22, 2012

Three Couples and a Pug Named Shiloh

Another first in Korea:  Joseph and I went camping.

Roughing it.

Peeing in the woods, bathing in the river kind of camping.

It was fantastic. 



Joseph and I have met really great people at our new school and in our new neighborhood.  Chris and Danielle along with Chien and Ray are two great couples and one night an idea was had:  let's go camping tomorrow.




2 tiny tents for 6 adults
hahahaha
Chris, Ray and Joseph

the water was cold!

Shiloh!!!

At the time it sounded like a great idea.  It really did.  9am the next morning was another story.  We scheduled to meet at 10am to head out and that was pushed back to about 11or 11:30.  At least one of us in the group was secretly hoping one of us would cancel.  Fortunately no one did.

We set out.  The 6 of us and a pug named Shiloh in the smallest car Hyundai makes.  Are you laughing yet?


twilight


First stop, Home Plus, to get everything 6 people and a pug would need for 24 hours of camping bliss: steaks, mushrooms, garlic, eggs and bread for the morning and lots and lots of beverages.  Lots and lots of beverages.

the river was quite deep
Back on the road, we drove about 2 hours away from Daejeon to the secret spot by the most picturesque river.  Not a soul.  Not a sound, save the rushing sounds of the river.  It was absolutely beautiful and perfect in every way.

We set up camp (in Korea you can literally camp where ever you want whenever you want.  No fee.)
and I should mention here Joseph and I brought along 1 bag of stuff: bathing suits, sunscreen, money (for food, of course) and the clothes on our back.  We've never been camping before and there were 6 of us in a car so we didn't want to take up much space.  Not even a tent.  We found one in Home Plus but it was $400 and we said no thank you to that.

We plopped in the river wearing our suits and got a show at the same time (thanks Joseph!!) and laughed our way to sunset.

The boys went off to hunt for firewood--it's a tradition you know.  The girls wondered if the boys would actually find firewood and how long it would take them and got things ready for dinner.

Campfire set up and us all sitting around it in the dark smelling the mushrooms and garlic in the foil cooking over the coals.  Next is the steak and we accidentally did not get enough for all of us so each couple shared.  Each of us secretly wished for more steak to magically appear, alas...
dinner
our campfire. all of us were proud of it
We were sitting around the campfire on the stones the boys put around for us (as we did not have chairs--took up too much room in the car) and we each had 1 marshmallow to roast on a stick. 

Chris and Danielle were kind enough to let Joseph and I share their 2 person tent (laughing yet?) and we all fell into a sleep that woke us up about 6:30am.
our sleeping quarters for the night.I slept to the left of Jospeh. hahaha



breakfast
Somehow the campfire had not quite burnt out so we got it going again and made egg sandwiches.  Packed up everything and went on our way back again.


Not bad for an impromptu camping trip roughing it in the wilderness.  We didn't see one person while we were there except the next morning a Korean man came wandering our way and when he realized we were not Korean, he turned around and left.
early morning

It was an adventure and a great time with great people.
Another great 'first' for Joseph and I living in Korea.

Joseph and I can't wait to do it again.  Perhaps with a tent next time around and maybe a chair or two. 

At least we had plenty of toilet paper!! Thanks Chien!

Hope you enjoy the pictures!

early morning
Mom, you would have hated every minute of it.  :-(

2 comments:

  1. sounds like fun for 3 young, adventureous couples. sounds like you learned a lot , too.

    and haha - yes elizabeth, you know me so well.

    xoxo
    mom

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  2. Mom, I mentioned that this wouldn't be camping for you but torture. You needed a few things to help you along the "proper path of camping." haha

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